Ernst Expands Investigation on Impact of USDA’s Telework

Press Release

“Secretary Vilsack’s apparent misapprehension regarding the telework posture of his workforce underlines the importance of comprehensive reviews, audits, and evaluations of the USDA’s telework, locality pay, and space utilization policies as requested in the August 28, 2023, letter. We also request your office not limit its review merely to the USDA’s headquarters and its D.C.-based employees, but also to its footprint and workforce throughout the country. Secretary Vilsack also took issue with the recent analysis by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that found the USDA is utilizing just 11 percent of its available office space within its headquarters, saying the GAO calculation is ‘not even close to correct.’ Secretary Vilsack said these numbers do not reflect ‘what is happening in February 2024,’ even though GAO’s estimates are based on average space utilization taken over a three-month period less than a year ago.

As members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry who represent states that support the nation’s food supply, it is vitally important to farmers, ranchers, and agricultural producers across the country for USDA to be available and accountable. If USDA employees are unreachable and unresponsive to their own managers, we worry our constituents are receiving the same treatment, or worse.”

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